Month: November 2025

Posted in Uncategorized

Alice’s Restaurant

Posted on by debthumanblog

And it came to pass one day that I was representing someone accused of littering. The deputy, with a straight face and in all seriousness, said he found an envelope with my client’s name at the bottom of the pile of garbage. I burst out laughing. The deputy looked at me as if he had no idea why I was laughing. “Alice’s Restaurant.” He was still confused. “Arlo Guthrie” He was still confused. I gave up.

In order to use photos at a trial, the prosecution (that would be the deputy) had to disclose the photos to me 10 days in advance. Except he didn’t.

“I’ve got photos,” he told the judge. And he showed 27 4 by 6 colored glossy photos maybe with circles and arrows on the back. The judge wasn’t going to look at the photos.

I never saw the deputy again.

When I was in law school, I wanted to join the JAG corps. I was given a piece of paper with questions on it. I was supposed to explain, with four part harmony, the details of all my crimes, the arresting officers’ names, and any other thing I wanted to say about the crimes. They wanted to know about my parking tickets! MY PARKING TICKETS!!! Even the ones I beat!!! I got rejected.

I keep meaning to go up to a recruiter on campus and sing: You can get anything you want at Alicve’s Restaurant. And walk away.

I saw Arlo Guthrie in 1970 at Kleinhan’s Music Hall in Buffalo, NY. Tickets were $5. Arlo sang Alice’s Restaurant. I saw Arlo again in 2015 in Mesa, Arizona. Tickets were $50. It was the 50th anniversary of Alice’s Restaurant Massacree. Arlo had given up on singing Alice’s Restaurant, but he made an exception that year for the Alice’s Restaurant 50th anniversary tour.

The original is still the best.

Posted in Fabric, Fiber

Circles and Squares

Posted on by debthumanblog

I’ve been doing some fabric designing and I’ve made a new collection, Circles and Squares. It’s in my Spoonflower shop here: https://www.spoonflower.com/collections/1428556-circles-squares-by-deb_thuman

I’ll be working on figuring out how and what I want to quilt on a piece that’s been sitting around my sewing room for two years. I need to design – maybe – what I want to quilt for my embroidery machine. Or maybe just quilt the thing on my sewing machine.

I also need to finish the quilt that I decided to quilt by hand. Space aliens stole my brain when I decided to do hand quilting.

My online store, Deb Thuman Art, is here: http://www.DebThumanArt.com

I’m linking with Nina Marie here: https://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

Posted in Child abuse, Emotions, Grief, PTSD

Being Thankful

Posted on by debthumanblog

Thanksgiving is this Thursday. I’ll celebrate, but it won’t be anything envisioned by Normal Rockwell. 

I’ll celebrate having the courage to remove toxic family members from my life.

I’ll celebrate by remembering that I graduated college with degrees in journalism and biology although I wasn’t allowed to take any math or science classes in high school.

I’ll celebrate by remembering I put myself through law school, graduated, passed the bar exam, ran my own practice, took another bar exam, and drove 2000 miles across the US to work in the New Mexico Public Defender Department.

I’ll celebrate by remembering I’m working on healing from 16 years of child abuse followed by 18 years of adult abuse.

I’ll celebrate finally being able to feel the horror of what I endured growing up.

I’ll celebrate by remembering that every time I wanted to kill myself, I lived.

I’ll celebrate by remembering I’ve only been married once – 53 years and still married.

I’ll celebrate rate by realizing how big an accomplishment my life has been. A lesser person would have died long ago.

Posted in Photography

I Took a Wander Around The Yard….

Posted on by debthumanblog

…looking for anything that caught my interest. Some will be used to create fabric designs. Some are just for looking at.

Detail of agave leaf.

Seeds caught in a web. Ever since I got bit by a spider and ended up with a blister the size of a golf ball, I have killed any spider I see in the house. I normally don’t go near spider webs.

This is a flower spike from a red yucca. They bloom in the spring. This one is blooming now. It seems as if the plants are reacting to climate change.

I’m not sure what this is. It looks like an itty bitty cactus growing from seed. It sort of looks like a cholla (choy-ah). If that’s what it is, it has to go. Cholla have nasty spines that once imbedded in skin are incredibly difficult to pull out.

I know I want to use the bottom photo for fabric designs, but I’m not sure what I want to do with the top photo.

A bit of fast designing. I’m liking the bottom one.

My Spoonflower shop is here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

My shop, Deb Thuman Art, is here: http://www.DebThumanArt.com

Posted in anxiety, Knitting, Photography

Fall in the Desert

Posted on by debthumanblog

I can do one (or both) of two things when I have anxiety. I can either eat a couple gallons of rocky road ice cream or I can knit. While waiting for the results of a biopsy (turned out to be not cancer, thank you God) I worked on a stress afghan.

First, I bought two big skeins of yarn. That’s what’s at the bottom of the afghan. Then, I realized two skeins weren’t enough so I bought more yarn. That’s what the rest of the afghan looks like. While it may not be great art, it’s nice to snuggle under.

The full moon this month was a super moon. I shot moonrise.

And I shot moonset.

There are problems getting the sky right when shooting the moon. The moon is so bright that it throws off the light metering.


The antidote is to put the landscape into the photo.

Fall in western New York, where I’m from, is yellow, gold, and red. Fall in the desert is mostly green with a bit of white and yellow tossed in.

Itty bitty flowering plant that flowers in the fall.

This is what the flower looks like up close.

So far, this barrel cactus has survived a two-decade drought. But something weird is growing on top of the cactus.

I’ve no idea what this is. I don’t think it’s a seed pod and I have never seen a barrel cactus grow a little cactus.

I’ve no idea what this is, but I thought it looked interesting.

A few flowers cling to the desert sage bush. The bush flowers after it rains and it hasn’t rained in a while. I doubt more rain now would trigger blooming. The shrubs know it’s fall and time to rest.

I decided to take my commissions from Spoonflower sales and order sheets. This is the pattern I used. What I love about the Spoonflower sheets is the fitted sheet actually fits the mattress and the top sheet is generous.

I’m linking with Nina Marie here: https://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

My Spoonflower shop is here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

My shop, Deb Thuman Art, is here: http://www.DebThumanArt.com